Satellite Navigation Head to Head Test - TomTom | Home Research Limited · 7-10 Adam Street ·...

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Satellite Navigation

Head to Head Test

London, July/August 2013



Summary

• In a series of Head-to-Head journeys undertaken with live

traffic devices from TomTom, Google, Garmin and CoPilot, the

routes generated by Tom Tom delivered drivers to their

destinations 5% quicker than the next quickest device i.e. 2

minutes quicker on a typical commuting journey of around 40

minutes



Introduction

• The new generation of satellite navigation devices and

smartphone apps have the ability to link navigation to live

traffic information, with the goal of avoiding delays and

optimising journey times by routing around traffic problems

• TomTom wished to compare the performance of its own traffic

information supported satellite navigation device – the

TomTom Go 500 with that of it’s competitors

• A Head-to-Head Test was devised which tested the

performance of 5 satellite navigation devices on the same

journeys at the same times on the same days



Introduction

• The objective was to compare the performance of the satellite

navigation devices in terms of:

– Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) vs Actual Time of Arrival (ATA)

– Estimate Travel Distance (ETD) vs Actual Travel Distance (ATD)

– Trip Duration

– Trip Distance

– Performance in traffic



Introduction

• 5 identical vehicles were be deployed (2013 Model Ford

Fiesta), each manned by a driver and co-driver

• Each vehicle had one satellite navigation device and one GPS

tracking device installed

• A series of 85 trips of differing lengths/durations was devised

making a total of 425 individual journeys (5 devices x 85 trips)

• All 5 vehicles took the same trip (same start and end point) at

the same time (separated by 2 minutes) on the same day

• The 2 minute separation was used to ensure that the drivers

were following their navigation devices, not each other in

convoy, as they made their journeys



Introduction

• Journeys were taken between 6.00 am and 9.30 am in the

morning and 4.00 pm and 7.30 pm in the evening, these times

were chosen as the busiest times for traffic in London.

Although there is no ‘official’ rush hour, Transport For

London’s peak fares are between 4.30 am and 9.30 am and

there is other anecdotal evidence to suggest that the evening

rush hour starts at 4.00pm

• The GPS tracking devices tracked the exact location of each

vehicle as they undertook each journey

• Drivers followed the instructions given by the satellite

navigation device, co-drivers kept a record of key data for each

journey and traffic conditions



Introduction

Each satellite navigation device was set up in the same way:

• Factory defaults

• Quickest Route

• Traffic alerts on (if available)

• Speed camera alerts on (if available)

• Speed limit alert on (if available)

• Audio navigation on

• Toll roads = Yes



Introduction

Our target average journey time was based on the ‘typical

commute’ of 40 minutes, we achieved an average of 40m 24s

across all journeys

Trip Time

Number of

journeys % of trips

Under 30 mins 145 34%

30-59 mins 216 51%

Over 60 mins 64 15%

Total 425 100%



Device Type Traffic Link

Garmin 3597 PND Tethered to Galaxy S2

Garmin 3598 PND Integrated in PND

TomTom Go 500 PND Tethered to iPhone 4

CoPilot Android App on Galaxy S3 Via Galaxy S3

Google Android App on Galaxy S3 Via Galaxy S3

Devices

All devices needed an internet link to collect live

traffic information



Teams and Devices6 driving teams were used, the devices were rotated between the teams each day



Date

Morning

Journeys

Evening

Journeys Total

15/07/13 4 1 5

16/07/13 3 3 6

17/07/13 3 3 6

18/07/13 3 3 6

19/07/13 2 3 5

22/07/13 4 3 7

23/07/13 4 3 7

24/07/13 3 3 6

25/07/13 3 3 6

26/07/13 3 2 5

29/07/13 3 3 6

30/07/13 3 3 6

31/07/13 3 3 6

01/08/13 2 3 5

02/08/13 3 0 3

Totals 46 39 85

Journey ScheduleThe first morning trip started soon after 6.00am

and the first evening trip soon after 4.00pm



Typical Trip Schedule

Team Date Trip Ref Satnav Start Point End Point Start Time Estimated duration Estimated distance

4 26/07/2013 260104 GAR777

Tesco

Brookfield Centre

Cheshunt

Waltham Cross

EN8 0TA

34 Fitzroy Rd

NW1 8TY 06.15 70 minutes 15.3 miles

5 26/07/2013 260105 GAR888

Tesco

Brookfield Centre

Cheshunt

Waltham Cross

EN8 0TA

34 Fitzroy Rd


6 26/07/2013 260106 TOMTOM

Tesco

Brookfield Centre

Cheshunt

Waltham Cross

EN8 0TA

34 Fitzroy Rd


1 26/07/2013 260101 COPILOT

Tesco

Brookfield Centre

Cheshunt

Waltham Cross

EN8 0TA

34 Fitzroy Rd


2 26/07/2013 260102 GOOGLE

Tesco

Brookfield Centre

Cheshunt

Waltham Cross

EN8 0TA

34 Fitzroy Rd




Device/Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 Totals

Garmin 3597 18 17 15 11 11 13 85

Garmin 3598 13 18 17 15 11 11 85

TomTom Go 500 8 13 18 17 15 14 85

CoPilot 11 11 13 18 17 15 85

Google 18 11 8 13 18 17 85

Total 68 70 71 74 72 70 425

Trips by Team/Device



Journey Start/End Points



Overall Performance



38:1240:11 40:24 40:49 41:14 41:34

0:00

4:48

9:36

14:24

19:12

24:00

28:48

33:36

38:24

43:12

48:00

TomTom

Go 500

Google Average Garmin

3597

Garmin

3598

CoPilot

Mins:secs

Average Trip Time

On average, the TomTom GO 500 was faster than any other device

Base: 85 trips



39:02 39:08 39:49 40:24 40:30 40:4543:00

0:00

4:48

9:36

14:24

19:12

24:00

28:48

33:36

38:24

43:12

48:00

6 3 1 Average 2 5 4

Mins:secs

Team

Average Trip Time

Base: 85 trips

Team 4 were the slowest, over 2½ minutes slower than average



38:1240:11 40:24 40:49 41:14 41:3438:05

40:14 40:24 40:55 41:16 41:30

0:00

4:48

9:36

14:24

19:12

24:00

28:48

33:36

38:24

43:12

48:00

TomTom

Go 500

Google Average Garmin

3597

Garmin

3598

CoPilot

Mins:secsActual

Reweighted

Average Trip Time - weighted

Base: 85 trips

Even after reweighting the data to remove driver variation, the TomTom GO 500 was over 2

minutes quicker than Google and over 3 minutes quicker than Garmin 3598 and CoPilot



20:34

20:26

21:11

20:58

21:00

40:44

42:46

43:19

42:49

43:31

73:15

74:56

84:00

79:32

76:00

TomTom Go 500

Google

Garmin 3597

Garmin 3598

CoPilot

Mins:secs

Over 60 minutes

30-59 minutes

Under 30 minutes

Average Trip Time by Duration

Base: 85 trips

Number of journeys:

Under 30 minutes: 145

30-59 minutes: 216

Over 60 minutes: 64

Total: 425

The TomTom GO 500 performed comparatively well on shorter trips

and best overall on trips over 30 min



14:26

19:53

17:45

19:53

14:40

30:56

29:39

28:47

28:33

27:50

50:23

49:58

45:15

49:33

44:57

01:02:32

56:28

59:43

01:00:14

59:12

CoPilot

Google

Garmin 3597

Garmin 3598

TomTom Go 500

Mins:secs

Over 20 miles

10-20 miles

5-10 miles

Under 5 miles

Average Trip Time by Distance

Base: 85 trips

No. of journeys:

Under 5 miles: 41

5-10 miles: 158

10-20 miles: 138

Over 20 miles: 88

Total: 425

The TomTom GO 500 performed comparatively well on all lengths of

trips, and best overall on those between 5 and 20 miles

Satellite Navigation Head to Head Test - TomTom | Home Research Limited · 7-10 Adam Street ·...

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